What is philosophy?

[Agent327]

According to Wikipedia,

Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, truth, beauty, law, justice, validity, mind, and language.[1][2] Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing these questions (such as mysticism or mythology) by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on reasoned argument.[3] The word philosophy is of Ancient Greek origin: φιλοσοφία (philosophía), meaning "love of wisdom."[4][5][6]

According to a printed philosophical dictionary, philosophy is love for the truth and in this sense probably first used in the socratic school; it goes on to mention that the word φιλοσοφοσ, or philosopher, was first used by Heraclit in the sense of one searching for the nature of things. (H. Schmidt, G. Schischkoff, Philosophisches Wörterbuch).

According to an on-line philosophical dictionary:

Literally, love of wisdom. Hence, careful thought about the fundamental nature of the world, the grounds for human knowledge, and the evaluation of human conduct. As an academic discipline, philosophy's chief branches include logic, metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics, and the appropriate aims and methods of each are the concern of metaphilosophy. (http://www.philosophypages.com/dy/index.htm)


Apart from this, philosophy may also be (sub)divided into ancient, medieval and modern or Western, Christian, Islamic or Eastern philosophy.


Philosophy then, being the oldest theoretical discipline to strive for knowledge and wisdom, may for some have a clear definition, while for others the definition itself is a philosophical problem to be answered. In addition, philosophy is not an empirical science, but a normative one; instead of relying on practical experiment it is founded on reasoning and mental experiment. As a consequence there will never be empirical evidence to support a certain philosophical vison or theory. (The conclusion that philosophy not be a science, however, ignores the fact that all science presuposes certain principles a priori.)


I think that may do by way of an introduction.

So, if anyone has a question relative to philosophy, I shall do my best to answer it, or, failing that, indicate where the answer might be found.

And if anyone feels the need to discuss issues of philosophical interest, feel free to do so here.

 

[Lone Wolf]

Philosophy can be described as a manifold, that is to say, something that proves the validity of the things in themselves, by means of analytic unity. That's why, by means of analysis, necessity is the key to understanding our a posteriori knowledge. This is even more evident when we look at the fact that noematic descriptions, de facto, synthetically constitute all particular instances of a transcendental grounding of cogitationes that ever become prominent; I have the reflection that immanent time is given continuously as an objective unity in a multi-form and changeable multiplicity of cogitationes, which belong determinately to it. As is proven in the ontological manuals, there can be no doubt that, on the contrary, our a priori knowledge (and to avoid all misapprehension, it is necessary to explain that this is true) stands in need of our ideas, yet the noumena have lying before them our a posteriori concepts. By immersing ourselves meditatively in the general intentions of modes of consciousness, we discover that transcendental subjectivity (in the broadest Cartesian sense) is actual. And that's the point of philosophy.

 

[Soil]

When I think of philosophy I think abstract but simple proverbs that try to come off as overly wise... but which always have other 'wise' proverbs contradict them.

It's also basically thinking about stuff that's best thought about while high.

Philosophy can be described as a manifold, that is to say, something that proves the validity of the things in themselves, by means of analytic unity. That's why, by means of analysis, necessity is the key to understanding our a posteriori knowledge. This is even more evident when we look at the fact that noematic descriptions, de facto, synthetically constitute all particular instances of a transcendental grounding of cogitationes that ever become prominent; I have the reflection that immanent time is given continuously as an objective unity in a multi-form and changeable multiplicity of cogitationes, which belong determinately to it. As is proven in the ontological manuals, there can be no doubt that, on the contrary, our a priori knowledge (and to avoid all misapprehension, it is necessary to explain that this is true) stands in need of our ideas, yet the noumena have lying before them our a posteriori concepts. By immersing ourselves meditatively in the general intentions of modes of consciousness, we discover that transcendental subjectivity (in the broadest Cartesian sense) is actual. And that's the point of philosophy.

I'll also have to agree with the above. The less you understand, the more correct it has to be... EDIT: Yes, that may just be a proverb from somewhere.

 

[aelf]

Thou art that.

 

[GoodGame]

The word philosophy is of Ancient Greek origin: φιλοσοφία (philosophía), meaning "love of wisdom."[4][5][6]

The word etiology speaks it!

 

[Orange Seeds]

despite what other non-philosophical types may try and tell you, Philosophy in modernity is simply the ability to argue. If you take a philosophy course that is what you will learn.

 

[aelf]

despite what other non-philosophical types may try and tell you, Philosophy in modernity is simply the ability to argue. If you take a philosophy course that is what you will learn.

That is simply syllogism or rhetoric. Maybe you can blame analytic philosophy for this trend.

 

[tycoonist]

i can answer any philosophical question with 3 words.

 

[Dachs]

i can answer any philosophical question with 3 words.

I can do it in two.

Philosophy is something which, like most things, is best understood when not written in a lot of different fonts in one post.

 

[Agent327]

Thanks for the replies so far.

I can do it in two.

Philosophy is something which, like most things, is best understood when not written in a lot of different fonts in one post.

While I doubt the first, the different fonts are simply representative of the quotiations used. (The font used here I prefer above the standard setting.)

While the topic of What is philosophy? is not the topic of this thread, it is a valid topic in itself. As already shown in post #1 that various answers are possible, I've refrained from addressing the posts on this topic.

I have refined the Opening Post to include the above.

 

[aelf]

Philosophy is something which, like most things, is best understood when not written in a lot of different fonts in one post.

Well, philosophy also entails not asking about what it is in an online gaming forum

 

[GoodGame]

Well, philosophy also entails not asking about what it is in an online gaming forum

Fifty disproves that assertion!

 

[Ayatollah So]

I can do it in two.

"Never mind"?
"Go away"?

 

[tycoonist]

"Never mind"?
"Go away"?

mine was going to be "it doesn't matter", but i guess he's got the right idea

 

[Xyan]

Philosophy is to ask why, to find out why and to explain why.

Why what?? That is unfortunately.. not philosophy...

 

[Agent327]

And we have our first question: Buddhism holds that everything is in a constant state of flux. This is what Heraclitus meant when saying that no one can step into the same river twice. So this is not specifically a Buddhist claim, but rather a general assessment. So the question is: is this true? Is everything in a constant state of flux? It actually seems like a paradox, if not a contradiction, a constant state of flux; a constant state suggests inertia, while flux does the opposite.

 

[Phinaeus]

Philosophy is sophistry. Amirite? Its like a computer case, used only to impress others but otherwise superficial, used only for show.

Also, I get the impression that philosophy majors are douchebags, so theres my personal bias.

 

[Integral]

It makes me sad that you've had such a bad experience with philosophy and philosophy majors. Some of them really are good people!

--

I tend to define philosophy in terms of its fields, which probably isn't necessarily the best way to do it. That's probably residual from my study of Hellenistic philosophy, when philosophical schools split their subject into logic (spanning epistemology, pure logic and linguistics), physics (including natural philosophy, metaphysics and theology) and ethics (both practical and theoretical morality). Some of those functions have split off into their own disciplines. So contemporary philosophy is the discipline which covers logic, metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics. In particular, it seeks to apply the tools of logic to the latter three subjects.

 

[Agent327]

In Greek "philosopher" replaced the word "sophist", which was used to indicate "wisemen" or teachers of rhetorics. Some of the early sophists actually were what we'd call philosophers today. In Plato's Dialogues the protagonist Socrates often opposes philosophers to sophists, whom he characterizes as dishonest for hiding their ignorance with wordplay and flattery, and trying to convince others of that which is untrue and unfounded. Today "sophist" still is used pejoratively to denominate those who try to convince rather than reason.

 

[Winston Hughes]

Philosophy is many things. It is the pursuit of fundamental truths, but it usually boils down to sophistry and semantics. It is the accumulated understanding of an entire culture, but also the semi-coherent ramblings of a drunk or a fool. It is a means of self-improvement, but also a means of self-justification. It is the desire to achieve wisdom, but also the desire to appear wise in the presence of others. It is a matter of the greatest importance, and yet more often than not it is merely an exercise in intellectual vanity.